This invention relates to a match box and particularly to a new and improved safety match box.
The prior art discloses various match box arrangements with safety features, but in general, the match boxes of the prior art fail to meet the proposed requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Commission is endeavoring to reduce match-related injuries that in 1975 sent approximately 10,000 individuals to hospital emergency rooms according to published statistics. One of the main requirements of the Commission is to design a child-proof match box arrangement since the prior art is noticably deficient in this respect.
Typical examples of prior art arrangements include U.S. Pat. No. 2,758,708 to D.E. Reed which discloses a match box with stick type matches having a latch to prevent the same from being opened unless the latch is operated properly. When the latch is moved so that the box can be opened, the striking surfaces are not reachable so that the box has to be closed and the latch locked before a match may be struck against the abrasive striking surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,236,758 to Perera and U.S. Pat. No. 2,604,980 to Reed disclose match boxes having a safety striking surface which is only usable when the container is closed. These latter patents, have serious design drawbacks since for example, the tray can be removed in Perera leaving the striking surface exposed at all times while Reed does not have child-proof locking means and merely provides a minimum of safety precautions.
U.S. Pat. No. 956,092 to Hiering et al. is of general interest and discloses a match box having a pivoted cover which is opened only when a certain portion of the design is removed to release the latch.
In the general field of safety containers, not specifically match boxes, U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,103 to Shaw discloses a safety container provided with a hinged lid and latches that are released by squeezing the walls of the container. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,630 to Phillips discloses a sliding container package having locking lugs which are locked when the cover is closed and prevents the same from being opened until axial movement of the cover occurs with respect to the container against the biasing member.
The present invention, however, is a child-proof safety match box arrangement particularly suited for pocket type match books and incorporates features never utilized in the match box art. The match box of the present invention requires particular manipulation before the container can be opened and means to retain the tray within the container so that it cannot be removed. Furthermore, the striker is exposed on the end only when the box is closed. The overall combination of these features is nowhere disclosed in the prior art cited above which appears to be representative of the general art in this area although it is not intended to be an all-inclusive listing of pertinent prior art patents.